Prayer Week 5: Thanksgiving Discussion Questions 1. “Thankfulness is the essential mark of the Christian.” Why did Bishop Gary suggest that we ought to be “world leaders” in giving thanks? 2. What do you think causes us to neglect thankfulness in personal relationships? Why do we neglect being thankful to God? 3. Read 1 Thessalonians 5:18. How is it that Christians can be thankful in all circumstances – even in the really difficult times? See Romans 8:28 and Romans 5:1-5. Do you remember the African exchange between clergy and people in their services? 4. Read Psalm 100. A Psalm for giving thanks. What reasons does the Psalm give for being thankful. What to what other attitudes does the Psalm exhort us? 5. Read Ephesians 5:18-21. Remember that this is just one sentence in the original language. What are the marks of being filled with the Spirit? 6. “Practice makes permanent.” Explore from the sermon (see text following), some of the handy tips Gary shared with us to help develop a lifestyle of thanks. Do you have others? 7. What were some of the changes we can expect to see both personally and as a church, when we develop a lifestyle that overflows with thankfulness? (Once again, see the sermon notes following.) 8. Share with the group some of things for which you have given thanks today or recently and pray for one another that we may all become people to develop a lifestyle of thankfulness.

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THANKSGIVING Noosa 2014

Ps 100, Eph 515-21

Intro It’s terrific to be with you this morning – thanks Mark for your kind invitation & warm welcome. This is my first visit to this great location of Noosa. Looking forward to seeing a little more tomorrow. Prayer & thankfulness Friends, what a wonderful privilege to have a speaking God …      

a God who spoke creation into being; a God who speaks with the humanity he has made in his own image a God who sends his Son to redeem his rebellious creation and adopt us his children a God who invites us to respond to his word in prayer & share in his purposes for this world a God who enables prayer through the Holy Spirit a God who expects a response of thankfulness

# Today we’ll see how thankfulness is the essential mark of the Christian – in thoughts, words and actions. Friends, there’s so much to be thankful to God for. The NW of Australia provides never ending reasons to keep giving God thanks – everything from the:  rich red soil of the Pilbara which hangs around long after your visit; to …  wide open spaces with their subtle changes in vegetation & animal life (kang, goats, cws, cam)  faithful Christians serving in remote locations  encouragement of people/organisats/parish/dioceses partnering with us for gospel ministry But I think we all enjoy being thanked, don’t we? It’s not why we do something, but we feel appreciated when someone says, thank you! Yet, at times we forget to say thank you? … to  

our spouses (easy to take them for granted); or friends; people we mix with at church; or … (how many daily thankyous??)

Why is living thankfully an essential mark of the Christian life? Well, how else could we respond once we know what God’s done for us in Christ!! => So, Christians should be the most grateful people on earth - world leaders in the art of thankfulness. The Bible reminds to be thankful in many places eg. (1 Thess 518). give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus Is this true for you and me?? Are we thankful people?? Old Testament & thankfulness Today’s Bible readings remind us about thankfulness. Let’s reflect a little on each one. Firstly, Psalm 100… did you note the Psalm’s title: For giving thanks This psalm (song) encourages us to offer grateful praise, thanks to God. So it calls … i) give thanks all the earth (v1ff) 2

… all the earth to acknowledge the Lord. And who is this Lord we’re to praise?? => The great King who rules over the universe. So we’re to respond with joy and gratitude – a gladness reflecting the joy of living in harmony with the Creator, Redeemer and King Now the call to be thankful is backed up with a reason. Look again at v.3: Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. The LORD is our covenant God, the one to whom we’re accountable; the one who cares for us. The image here is one of sheep/shepherd. It’s well known from Ps 23 … the LORD’S my shepherd (JC) ii) give thanks in God’s presence (v.4f) The last couple of verses pick up the picture of the temple. In the days of the psalmist you entered the Jerusalem temple through its gates (cf. v.4) The temple symbolised or represented God’s presence among his people – so the psalm asks, how do we come into God’s presence?? The simple, but profound answer is … we come with thanks and praise. And the reason for this flood of thanks and praise? (v.5) For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. What a great reason to thank and praise the Lord!! Friends, the psalms constantly remind us of how good our God truly is … which leads to thanksgiving. In Africa services often start with: God is good … all the time … Now we can’t escape the Old Testament’s call to thankful living. But it’s even more ‘in our face’ as we turn to the New Testament – with Paul its chief advocate!! His letters burst with thanks in response to God’s saving acts in Jesus. So these words written to the Christians in Corinth are typical of how Paul begins his letters (1 Cor 14): I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. # Friends, thanksgiving is a distinctive of being Christian; an essential characteristic of all who’ve received forgiveness and eternal life from God. Our prayers must ring with the sound of thanksgiving but this should flow over into every aspect of our lives … including our how we speak. Listen to Ephesians 54: Coarse and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks. Now ‘thanks’ here is simply shorthand for the proper or right behaviour, words, expected of God’s people. 3

# But there’s a sobering truth we need to remember … lack of thankfulness is a sign of rebellion to God and Paul spells this out in Rom 121ff: For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. => So it’s not surprising Christians are called to be thankful as we meet together (Col 315). You see, every time we give thanks, • •

God is honoured; our relationship with God is nurtured.

New Testament & thankfulness Let’s now take a closer look at how Ephesians 518-21 should shape our thankfulness. i) Spirit-filled living (v.18) Friends, v.18-21 is one long connected sentence! So all the ingredients of this sentence hang together as a interconnected whole. Paul says, Spirit-filled Christians will: sing, gives thanks and submit to one another. Look again at how these verses begin … Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled by the Spirit.  do not get drunk, be filled by the Spirit (v.18) Paul contrasts being Spirit filling with drunkenness - an image for darkness … living without honouring Christ, living by conforming to the world’s standards and values (cf 58ff). As well, getting drunk pictures destructive behaviour … while being filled by the Spirit develops a godly lifestyle. Hence, we’ll:  speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs;  sing  make music in our heart to the Lord  give thanks to God for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;  submit ourselves to one another in the fear of Christ. But these 5 marks don’t often jump to our mind when ‘being filled by the Spirit’ is mentioned. # Yet this passage makes it clear these are the marks of those continually being filled by the Spirit. Friends, the Spirit brings the fullness of God & Christ to believers. And as the Spirit fills Christians, we should expect to see these 5 marks in our lives. => So the more thankful we are, then the more the Spirit’s at work in our lives!! ii) Expressing our Spirit-filled lives with than Genuine Christian living, ie. Spirit-filled living, will bubble over with thanks to God. 4

Earlier on in Ephesians (115f) Paul shares how he hasn’t stopped giving thanks for them, as he prays. So, what’s the shape of our thanks to be like?? Paul spotlights the how in v.20 … always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. So our thanks should be …  

constant and regular – ‘always giving thanks’. A thankful attitude is to be our ongoing companion for everything – why? because God’s blessed us with so much:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (13) Friends, our thanks aren’t limited by happy times, for we’re to be thankful even in trials & suffering. So we give thanks for strength to endure patiently; since in everything God works for the good of his people (Roms 828). While Romans 5 tells us God so overrules our suffering that it produces … character, … perseverance … and hope. But there’s more, for our thanks are to:  

directed to the ultimate source and goal of all things – God the Father expressed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - so, Christians filled by the Spirit give thanks to God the Father on the basis of who Jesus is and what he’s accomplished through his death and resurrection. =>What a challenge to our thankfulness!!

# Do you find like me, giving thanks to God slipping in our daily lives? Perhaps, our thanks become limited to the more mundane – like a convenient parking spot in the shopping centre (trolley)?? => Are we giving thanks for one another – for the way God has worked to produce our faith, hope & love?? [thank someone now] Being thankful Friends, how do we develop a lifestyle of thanks?? For practice makes permanent. i) some handy hints If we want to improve our giving thanks are there any handy hints to help us? Here’s some: • • • • •

practice turning a verse from your daily Bible reading into a prayer of thanks look for a reason to thank God when we meet together each Sunday say thankyou to someone each Sunday (PNG) practice thanking God daily for what he’s done in Christ (more than meal times) collect songs, prayers, scriptures to stimulate our thanks

Friends are we up to the challenge of developing a lifestyle that overflows with thankfulness??? … ii) thankfulness is life changing 5

Well, what happens when we’re thankful? At a personal level we’re weaned off a self-focussed view of the world (God serves my wants) Instead we become increasingly overcome and over-awed by God’s loving control of the world and our own circumstances. So we’ll be less likely to be thrown off-balance: •

by good times – where we forget God since we’re enjoying life & his gifts so much; Or …

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by bad times – where we get discouraged or bitter blaming God, giving him the cold shoulder, hiding from him.

What about church? Will thankfulness make a significant impact on our church life?? Yes! since being thankful is God’s will for us then we ought expect really terrific effects!! Let me suggest a few!! Thankfulness will … encourage us to meet together as God’s people stimulate our times of prayer help us as we look for ways to teach and correct one another; helping us to be more receptive to being taught and straightened out reduce feelings of envy or greed transform our life together as we focus on being thankful, not critical or thinking of only ‘me’

• • • • •

So … we’ll seek to serve others, not wanting to just be served; … we’ll willingly engage in backstage and unnoticed tasks because we know everything we do is for our Lord. Being thankful will also … •

provide a standard for our behaviour as we ask:

can we give God thanks for this action?

Hence, being thankful helps us to labour for worthy behaviour while avoiding sinful traps. - eg. apply this test to gossip or greed. Or, since we’re thankful to God for our forgiveness through Christ, we’ll be more willing to forgive others; and so we won’t keep hold of wrong and bitterness Or, if we keep giving thanks to God for our spouse it’ll help us to resist lust and immorality; - while improving our relationship of love and commitment to one another. A final word Friends we’ve so much to give God thanks for – forgiveness, eternal life, church family, hope … Remember the Bible reminds us that the … Spirit-filled life is marked by attitudes, speech and behaviour shaped by thankfulness – thankfulness to God for all he’s given us in Christ. So may the Holy Spirit continue his work of reforming us into Christ’s likeness. And let’s keep responding by always giving thanks, in all circumstances.

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